


First Night (Or how Remus Lupin became a Catapults fan in spite of himself)

by Spirit_Howl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts First Year, Marauders, PoC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 00:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5312882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spirit_Howl/pseuds/Spirit_Howl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which James has strong feelings about quidditch, Sirius takes against Peter for no good reason and no-one is English.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Night (Or how Remus Lupin became a Catapults fan in spite of himself)

‘None of us are Muggle-Borns, right?’ Sirius asked his new dorm-mates that first night.

‘Don’t tell me that’s a problem for you Black, otherwise I’ll have to reconsider my offer of friendship,’ James warned.

‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist, I was just going to ask which quidditch teams everyone supported, and if any of us were Muggle-born, I’d have had to explain quidditch to them, wouldn’t I?’

‘Oh, sorry mate, why didn’t you just start with that? The mighty Tornadoes, seeing as I had the great misfortune of being born in Somerset, that quidditch-forsaken county, they were my nearest team growing up,’ James sighed, dramatically. ‘If only we were from Dorset, they have two! How’s that fair?’

Sirius nodded his agreement. ‘Can you believe London doesn’t have a team either? You’d have thought someone could have made one of the parks unplottable. I have to make do with United instead.’

‘Why United?’ James asked, curious.

‘It’s the only good thing I’ve inherited from my parents. I think Father follows them because it reinforces his Englishness to choose the oldest team in the league, especially as they are the most successful team in England. You should hear him when we play the Bats or the Magpies, it’s the only time his cursing is worse than Mother’s! How dare they be more successful than his beloved United, even after he bought them all top of the range brooms at the beginning of the season?’ Sirius laughed. ‘I follow them because you never forget the first team you see do you?’

‘Your reasoning’s better than your father’s,’ James replied. Sirius shrugged dismissively.

‘I’m a Wanderers fan,’ Peter piped up from his bed next to James’.

‘They’re your local side I suppose? Only won one European Cup if I recall, not exactly going for glory there are you?’ Sirius sneered.

‘Oi, Black! Don’t be mean; we all have to live together the next seven years. It’s alright Peter, his parents forgot to teach him any manners,’ came a voice from the bed opposite Pettigrew’s, next to his own.

‘Ooh, look who’s finally decided we’re worth speaking to. What about you then, Lupin?’ Sirius replied. ‘I don’t have a team,’ he stated simply.

Sirius and James spluttered in disbelief. James recovered fastest. ‘Call yourself a wizard?’

‘What if I were a Muggle-Born?’ Remus retorted, quite logically.

‘Are you?’ Sirius grew excited at the multiplying effect the knowledge that not only was he in Gryffindor, but he was sleeping next to a Muggle-Born every night would have on his parents’ fury. 

‘No,’ Remus admitted. ‘My Da’s a wizard.’

‘What kind of wizard neglects to demonstrate the joys of quidditch to his children?’ James whined.

‘This must be rectified at once!’ Sirius declared. ‘Now, judging from your accent you’re Welsh, yes?’

‘I was born in Cardiff, yes,’ Remus confirmed. ‘But my Da’s from Ayrshire, just like Pete here, and Mam’s a Muggle, so presumably if you insist on picking a quidditch team for me, it would be a Scottish one.’ Inwardly, he cringed at himself. Why was he even arguing with these nutters?

‘But that won’t do! If we’re going by geographical proximity, then we’ll have two of you supporting the Wanderers, and that’s just not fair, you’d gang up on us on match nights!’ James complained. ‘Had I been from Dorset, I could have supported United like Sirius here, and you being a Wanderers’ fan would then have been acceptable, but I’m not, so it’s not.’

‘There’s nothing for it, Lupin. Where’s that Welsh pride?’ asked Sirius.

‘We preserve it for dealings with English toffs like you, nothing against the Scots,’ Remus accompanied this statement with a reassuring smile aimed at Peter, whose own lips curled up tentatively at the corners.

‘Oohh! Watch out James, Lupin bites!’ Sirius smirked. Remus was sure all the blood drained from his face on hearing the expression, but if anyone noticed anything they kept it quiet as Sirius continued. ‘I’ll have you know, Lupin, that however English my parents pretend to be, until they start breeding outside their current limited circle, we Blacks will remain essentially Cantonese.’

‘Mmm,’ James agreed. ‘And my family are from Bangalore originally. Our surname’s really Patar, but my Ajja decided to translate it into English. I think he was actually disappointed at how similar the words were in the end,’ he laughed.

Remus groaned. He had nothing against the English, really, had probably seen more of the nation already in his young life than these two put together. His annoyance stemmed more from their Pure-Blood arrogance, their unwavering self-belief developed by eleven years of knowing there would always be food on the table, money for new clothes, that their place would never be questioned. Even if they didn’t consider themselves wholly English, British wizarding society had accepted them a long time ago.

‘This means there’s no reason why we can’t all be friends, except for your refusal to pick a quidditch team. So, the Wanderers are out. If you insist on being Scottish despite that wonderfully lyrical accent of yours, there’s always the Pride I suppose, even if they’re hours north of where your father’s from. Or the Magpies, though I may never forgive you, and they’re over on the east coast anyway,’ Sirius argued, bringing them back on topic.

‘Still think it’s unfair that he has a quidditch team right on his doorstep and he refuses to support them,’ James pointed out. ‘It’s an insult to us geographically challenged quidditch super-fans.’

‘There you go. Our great leader and expert on all matters quidditch has spoken. You are henceforth a Welshman and will support the Catapults, as befits your accent,’ Sirius declared.

‘What does this entail exactly?’ Remus asked, still to be convinced.

‘Being excited when they win, despondent when they lose, knowing the names and positions of all your team’s players, occasionally being the first to grab the Prophet to read out the scores,’ James explained. Remus continued to look doubtful.

‘Can’t I just support Gryffindor and be done with it?’ he asked.

‘But Remus! We all do that as a matter of course! House pride demands it. No, this is separate from life at Hogwarts, this is about claiming your birth-right as a member of magical society!’ Sirius proclaimed.

‘Fine, in that case, the Catapults it is,’ R conceded.

James and Sirius grinned at each other. ‘Right, this time tomorrow I will fill you in on all you need to know about your team. There’ll be a test at the end of the week. If you pass, you will be officially inducted into our gang, if you fail, Sirius and I will come up with a prank so embarrassing people will spend the next seven years pointing and laughing at you.’

And thus, Remus’ fate was sealed. It simply wouldn’t do for people to look at him too closely, so he had no choice but to become the Catapults’ biggest fan. Only vaguely did it occur to him that in accepting to support the Caerphilly Catapults, he had also accepted the friendship of these three boys.


End file.
